


Tearing Wires from our Heads

by sherlocks_skeletal_warlock



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Angst, Gen, Sibling Love, Some hurt/comfort, Torture, Vietnam War, pure angst, warfare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 20:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14120496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sherlocks_skeletal_warlock/pseuds/sherlocks_skeletal_warlock
Summary: The Jon hated being soldier. But he had never hated anything more than the Vietnam War.He was so alone, so afraid, so injured... Hope was almost pointless by now.





	Tearing Wires from our Heads

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Importance of Light Perception](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1017788) by [Calamity_Lena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calamity_Lena/pseuds/Calamity_Lena). 



> More SPG angst, I'm afraid! A huge thank you to my housemate, who is also an SPG fan, for editing this for me. 
> 
> This fic does begin by using male pronouns for Rabbit due to the cannon, but I used female pronouns later on when considering the band. I love and support Isabella Bennett completely!
> 
> Nothing belongs to me, all belongs to Steam Powered Giraffe.

**_Vietnam, 1972._ **

The Jon had never known fear like this. In over 70 years of existence, he had never felt so crushingly afraid. Time had lost all meaning to him: nothing had meaning in this forsaken place.

He’d always hated being a soldier, but now, imprisoned in this dank cell without his siblings, he hated it more than ever.

Vietnam was the most taxing war they had ever fought in.

And now it seemed it would be the end of them.

When the Viet Cong had surprised their patrol with an attack, it hadn't been a shock that the human members of their troop had fled into the jungle without a second thought for the automatons.

Abandoned, they had fought. By God, had they fought. He remembered it all, as clearly as if it was yesterday - which it could have been, considering how confused The Jon was about the time. He remembered The Spine lashing out with his fists, desperately trying to protect The Jon, until one of the soldiers had leapt forward and struck him hard in the neck, causing a major malfunction that had left The Spine in complete shut-down. He remembered Rabbit belching flames, but when The Spine went down he gasped, and in that momentary distraction a soldier had managed, completely by luck, to hit his reset switch and he had collapsed too. Left fighting all on his own, The Jon hadn't stood a chance, and it had only been moments before everything went dark.

 

He'd woken up here. His chassis was creaking, damaged by the bullets they had taken, and he was alone.

They had taken The Spine's optics first. He remembered the screaming of his older brother and how he himself had been dragged out of his cell and shoved in an operating room just to witness the suffering of the other automaton. Rabbit had been nowhere to be seen but there was The Spine, empty holes in his faceplate where his green photoreceptors should be. Their captors had laughed when The Jon had screamed and sobbed. They had held him back when he tried to reach his brother who was still active, whimpering quietly, his head jerking from side to side as he tried to work out where The Jon was.

Their captors seemed to enjoy tormenting them all. They disconnected The Jon’s limbs and removed them whilst he howled in pain. Through his own screams, he could hear his siblings begging them to stop, to hurt them instead, to leave him alone.

The Jon could cope without his limbs. After all, when he was new he had spent a week without legs. However, back then The Spine had carried him everywhere, carefully and lovingly.

The scariest thing was when they had disconnected his audioreceptors.

He was more alone than he had ever been in all his years of existence. He couldn't see his siblings in this tiny cell and he could no longer hear them.

Every time the cell door swung open and a masked individual came in to drag him into the room that The Jon had mentally dubbed ‘The Torture Room’, he recoiled. Either it was his turn to be torn apart, or he was to see it happen to his family.

Today, Rabbit was the one strapped to the slab and The Jon made a helpless strangled sound that he couldn't hear. His eldest sibling was a mess: chest wrenched open and faceplates missing. He was speaking, the movement of those exposed silver teeth made that clear, but everything was silent for The Jon. His shoulders shook as he cried, desperate to hear his sibling, to hold him, but he couldn't. He locked optics with him - the only connection he could make with him in their current condition - and this sent a sorrowful shock through The Jon’s boiler. His thoughts immediately drifted to The Spine. The last time he had seen him, he had been able to hear. His brother had been blind and legless, his head twitching heavily as he malfunctioned, but he could hear The Jon and The Jon could hear him. Now, he had no idea whether or not The Spine was still active. And that scared him more than anything. He was losing his brothers and he couldn’t do anything to stop it happening.

Rabbit jerked and spasmed as The Jon felt himself being dragged away. Their captors would often do this; they showed them how they were taking apart their family, to torment them. The Jon hated it, but at least he could see that his siblings weren't dead.

* * *

 

_Lieutenant Edward Jones was tired. He and his small troop of soldiers had been tracking a group of Viet Cong scientists who were said to have top secret American military weaponry inside a small base in the jungle. But, because the weaponry was top secret, the Colonel refused to tell him what it was. Edward had kicked up a fuss and protested how the hell he was supposed to find the damn thing if he didn’t know what it was. Eventually, the Colonel had said that he was looking for robots... not that that helped much._

_Luckily, finding the base was easier. The intel on that had been far more reliable. Edward gestured to his men and then crept slowly forward, towards what looked like a back door. In and out, they had agreed the day earlier. Get in, get what they needed, and get out. Their target was in was a lab in what looked like a repossessed house - not quite a military fortress and so they would treat it accordingly. At a simple gesture, Edward’s second, a powerful young man known only as Evans, broke down the door and the small company rushed in. The lab wasn’t well-guarded and the few guards that they did come across were taken down before anyone could get hurt. Edward hurried deeper into the base and into tunnels under the ground, where he passed what appeared to be cells. There were six of them on the corridor and no sound came from any of them, but that didn’t deter him. With his team providing cover, Edward shot the hinges off the heavy doors to reveal that the first three were empty. However, the fourth one wasn’t._

Time passed. It was meaningless in this windowless cell. Their captors clearly wanted them alive because they kept providing them with water, but The Jon didn't drink. Death was preferable to this. His boiler was drying out; he could feel it when the cell door opened again.

Well, opened doesn’t quite describe it...

The door was blasted off its hinges and crashed to the ground. In strode a young man in an American uniform. He spoke, and The Jon blinked helplessly.

Had he finally gone mad? Was he hallucinating?

The soldier spoke again, and The Jon shook his head, trying to make him understand that he couldn't hear him. The automaton sighed and opened his mouth, hoping that his voice-box wouldn't fail him without the support of his audioreceptors.

"I caaan't hear. MY fami-i-ily. Find. Find them." By the wince from the soldier, it had come out louder than The Jon had expected but the American nodded. He seemed to understand. He turned to shout something out of the cell door and then moved over to heave The Jon into his arms. 

It was only then that he truly believed that he wasn't hallucinating. Hallucinations couldn't touch him.

_Edward stepped into the cell and was immediately shocked. Sat in the back corner was a metal man, or more accurately, the torso and head of a metal man. By the look of the wires and design, he had previously had limbs, but they had been torn off. The metal man was staring at him in confusion, his glowing blue eyes setting Edward on edge. The top-secret weapon was a robot alright: an incredibly human robot._

_“I’m Lieutenant Edward Jones, with the US army. Do you have a name I can call you? Are you alone?” The robot frowned in a very human way and blinked his glowing blue eyes. Edward tried again. “What’s your name?” He was beginning to wonder whether or not he was being completely stupid to speak to the robot when the bot shook his head and twitched before opening his mouth. He spoke so loudly that Edward winced, hoping the noise hadn’t alerted anyone deeper in the base, but he couldn’t really blame the poor thing; it was clear that he couldn’t hear. But there were others; the bot had spoken of his family. Edward nodded slowly to assure the metal man, before he stepped back out._

_“Evans, Valdez, Smith, get those other cells open. You’re looking for robots, military’s secret weapons.” The soldiers nodded and got to work opening the two remaining cells. Edward then stepped over to the robot and heaved him up. He was heavier than he expected, considering that he was just a torso and head, but he was also made of what looked like brass, so that was not all that surprising. He stepped out of the cell to check on the progress of his men, carefully carrying the robot._

It occurred to The Jon that either he was lighter than he thought, or the soldier was stronger than he looked, as the man managed to carry him out of the cell with apparent ease. Further down the corridor, a tall man emerged from another room with The Spine in his arms. From the puffs of steam escaping his smokestacks, The Jon knew his brother was still active, but barely so. He could feel himself crying, even if he couldn't hear it, and The Spine's head twitched, turning immediately in the direction of the sound which caused The Jon to only sob harder. He couldn't hear The Spine and The Spine couldn't see him to know he was still coping. The soldier who had him in his arms moved over to The Spine and The Jon curled his head against that of his older brother's, feeling the thrum of his boiler. The humming it gave off felt wrong, as though The Spine was barely functioning. Touch was all they had right now, and The Jon was loathe to move away, but over The Spine’s shoulder, he saw a third soldier emerge with Rabbit in his arms.

Their eldest sibling was looking worse than ever: missing two limbs and the other two stripped back to their hydraulics But the scariest bit was the fact that Rabbit’s eyes weren’t glowing. No steam came from the automaton and The Jon could see into his chest. The blue matter core there was barely glowing now. He gave a heavy sob and burrowed back into The Spine's neck, desperate to gain any comfort he could from his brother.

_Edward saw Evans first. He was holding a larger silver robot that had empty black holes where it’s eyes should have been. Upon seeing the other robot, the one in his arms burst into tears and began to shake. The silver one twitched and turned his head towards him, crying out plaintively,_

_“Jon? Jon, is that you?” Edward stepped closer to Evans and the robot, Jon, burrowed into the other’s metal plates._

_“Hello, I’m Lieutenant Edward Jones, US army. I presume you cannot see but this robot, Jon, right? He can’t hear. Can you explain what you are?” The eyeless robot stayed pressed against Jon, but he spoke, his voice a deep baritone, though it was faint and thin-sounding._

_“The Jon, his n-n-name is The Jon. He’s my little brother. I’m The Spine and we have an older sibling... R-r-rabbit, where is he? We are part of US army, automatons rented from P-p-peter Walter the Fifth, in San Diego. W-w-w-we just want to go h-h-home.” The Spine huffed a great deal of steam out of his mouth and Edward turned his head as he heard a call from Private Carlos Valdez. He came out, carrying a third robot, but this one was less recognisable as human. Its head was a copper skull and the chest was torn open to reveal some sort of glowing blue orb. It still had one leg and one arm, but they were stripped bare to reveal pistons and hydraulics. The Jon gave another loud sob and pressed against The Spine. This must be their older sibling, Rabbit, but this automaton was clearly not functioning._

_“Alright, we’ve got three automatons now. Is that all?” Edward directed his question at The Spine, who nodded._

_“Rabbit... I c-can’t-can’t-can’t hear_ _him. Is, is he okay?” Edward winced, looking down at the brass robot in his arms who was pressed as close to his older brother as possible._

_“I don’t think Rabbit is functioning, The Spine,” said the soldier, carefully. “They’re not reacting.” At that, the silver automaton gave a soft sob and turned his head away before collecting himself and mumbling,_

_“Then that’s everything.”_ _Gently, uncharacteristically so, Evans rubbed the automaton’s back, and Edward gave a heavy sigh before turning back to his soldiers._

_“Alright, men, we’ve done our job here. Now, we need to get these robots back to base. We’ll take turns in transporting them but let’s get out of here quickly, reinforcements could arrive at any time.”_

_And with that, Edward turned and led out his troops. He instructed Smith to go ahead to scout for danger and Morgan and Tope to bring up the rear while he, Evans and Valdez carried the bots. The Jon sobbed in his arms as Edward moved him away from his brother, but they had to move. Staying put would get them all killed._

And then they were moving. The Jon sobbed at having to be shifted away from The Spine, but he could still see him and that was somewhat relaxing.

His boiler was dry and the movement of the soldier carrying him was almost soothing, but The Jon fought stasis without a second thought. He had to keep his optics on his siblings. They meant more to him than anything.

When they finally emerged from the building, The Jon let out a long, deep exhale. In front of him, The Spine twisted his head to focus on The Jon’s sounds and that made him sob softly. He desperately wanted his brother to understand that he was there, that he had been so afraid to lose him, lose him like they were losing Rabbit. He opened his mouth, focused and croaked out,

“I lllove you, BROtheR.” The soldier carrying him shuddered and The Jon hoped he had spoken quieter than before. The Spine twisted again and carefully formed the word ‘love’ with his rubber lips. The Jon sniffled. It hurt not to be able to interact properly with The Spine, but at least they were both still active. As they moved through the jungle, The Jon focused his photoreceptors on the broken underbrush. He didn’t want to shut down, but he didn’t want to think either.

_Edward was amazed by the robots. Evans and Valdez were walking in front of him and The Jon kept his glowing blue eyes fixed on them, clearly focussing on his siblings. They had barely left the base when The Jon spoke again, eyes on his brother who had twisted towards the sound of him breathing. His speech was accompanied by the sound of grinding gears and Edward shuddered. It was quieter than when he had previously spoken but it was still too loud for the Lieutenant’s liking. In front of him, The Spine very carefully mouthed the word ‘love’, now knowing that The Jon could not hear him. In his arms, The Jon sniffled as The Spine turned his head away again, focusing on what he could hear. That kind of response was completely human, despite the fact that they were made entirely of metal, thought Lieutenant Jones._

* * *

 

It was long after the sun had set when the soldiers finally stopped marching. With gentler touch than he was anticipating, The Jon felt himself be set down against a tree. His soldier turned to say something to the other men and The Jon’s eyes widened as The Spine was set down beside him, followed moments later by Rabbit. The Jon curled immediately into The Spine’s chest and felt his older brother bury his face into The Jon’s head. As his arms were still attached, The Spine pulled Rabbit’s lifeless body against them both. They were together; broken and distraught but together.

Here, and only here, did The Jon allowed himself to go into stasis for the first time in what felt like years.

_They had been marching for 6 hours when Edward decided it was safe to set up camp and rest. He called for his men to stop and gather around as he gently placed The Jon against a tree. The robot seemed surprised by this and so Edward turned back around._

_“Evans, Valdez, set The Spine and Rabbit down beside The Jon. Carefully! Smith, no fires, we’re too deep in unknown territory. Eat your rations cold and then get some rest. I’m on first watch, then Morgan in 4 hours.” As commanded, Evans and Valdez set the robots down carefully and minutes later, the bots were pressed as close to each other as their metal bodies would allow. Edward settled himself down for his watch and chewed slowly on his rations. Within half an hour, all his men were asleep, and it appeared that The Jon was too, his bright blue eyes closed. The Spine was still puffing steam and turning his eyeless gaze towards the slightest noise._

_“Is, is The Jon asleep?” Edward asked, and The Spine’s head snapped towards him._

_“I think he is in st-st-stasis. His boiler is very low by the sound of it. It is un-un-unlikely that he will power back on until he is repaired.”_

_“Could we not fill his boiler? What do you guys run on?” The Spine huffed out another sigh of steam._

_“Yes, we o-only run on water. But p-p-please do not. I would prefer him to remain in stasis, where he can’t feel pain, than be a-aware of his situation. I d-d-don’t know what they did to him. My photoreceptors were the first thing they took.” Edward winced heavily._

_“Of course. I’m sorry.” The Spine gave a small shrug._

_“It is what happened. W-w-will they send us home?”_

_“I’ll make sure of it. I must admit, you’re not much use to the army in your current state.” The Spine just nodded before pressing closer to his siblings._

_“I w-w-will also try to go into stasis. It will make us easier to transport. But… thank you, Lieutenant Jones. We will not f-f-forget this.” At this, The Spine exhaled slowly, letting himself collapse against his siblings and ten minutes later, the robot had stopped producing steam. They were all offline. Edward huffed a little and made a promise to himself; he would get these incredibly human machines back to San Diego, to Peter Walter the Fifth as The Spine had told him to. It was the least he could do._

 

**_San Diego, 1973._ **

When The Jon wakes, he sees young Peter Walter V staring at him, his face crumpled in sorrow. He is home, though he doesn’t remember anything of how he returned. The Jon wonders about the soldiers who must have transported them home, but his main concern is with the man in front of him.

"Petes!?" The sound crackles through his audioreceptors and without a second thought, he throws his newly repaired arms around the Walter.

"The Jon, th-thank god. I thought you weren't going to come back around."

"Ya fixed me!" He twists his wrists and taps his ears.

"Y-yeah. You're the first." He waves behind him and The Jon gets up, slightly unsteady on his newly repaired legs. There are two metal slabs in this lab (definitely a Walter Lab, it feels like home) and his siblings lie on them, powered off. The Jon winces at the sight of them, still in pieces.

"How long will it take you to repair them?" Peter Five shrugs and rubs his head tiredly.

"Maybe three or four weeks on The Spine? His photoreceptors need a lot of work. Rabbit... I don't know, Jon, this damage is extensive." The Jon sets his jaw.

"I'll stay here. Help where I can. I c-can't leave them. Not, not now." Peter Five merely nods, bowing his head in understanding.

It takes Peter Five four months in total to repair his siblings.

The Jon doesn't move from the lab during the entire time.

Yet he sobs like a child when The Spine's photoreceptors flicker on and he rumbles in his deep baritone that it is good to see him again. And again, when Rabbit throws his arms around them both and refuses to let go.

 The war never stops haunting him, but The Jon knows he can cope. He has his family.

Time passes. Rabbit tells them that he is actually a girl and The Jon and The Spine support her completely. She is their family and even when she frets, The Jon stares into her mismatched optics and very firmly assures her that he loves her and wants her to be happy. Besides, he jokes, he had always wanted a sister. Rabbit giggles at that. Peter VI is born and they start performing as a band again. They were peaceful now, Peter V had made sure of that, and they had all welcomed that change.

 

**_San Diego, 2012._ **

The Spine and The Jon are wandering around San Diego Zoo between sets during their 72-day stint there when The Jon sees him. His soldier, Lieutenant Jones, as The Spine had informed him, had aged. Now his black hair was streaked with grey, but The Jon could not ever forget that kindly smile, despite the fact that didn’t spend that much time with him. The face of the man who saved you from death and torture is not easily forgotten. Before The Spine can do anything, The Jon hurries over to him.

“Lieutenant Jones!” The man startles and turns away from the woman who had been stood with him to look at The Jon. Then his jaw drops.

“The Jon? Can it really be you? And The Spine?” His older brother doffs his fedora slightly.

“Lieutenant Jones. It is good to actually see you.”

Lieutenant Jones rolls his eyes. “Please, call me Edward. It’s been a long time since I’ve been a Lieutenant. Look at you both, in perfect working order. Is Rabbit…” The Jon gives an excitable nod.

“Peter V fixed us all up. Rabbit is doing fine! You have a really lovely voice!” Edward laughs and gently pulls the woman who had been stood next to him closer.

“This is my wife, Abigail. Abi, my dear, these are some old… war friends.” The Jon giggles and tips his top hat for her, followed by The Spine doffing his own hat. Abigail gives them both a shy smile.

“What are you guys doing here?” Edward asks.

“Oh, we’re playing at the zoo all summer! It’s been really fun so far.” The Jon rocks back on his heels happily.

“Playing?” Edward frowns and The Spine coughs a little, embarrassed.

“We were originally built as musicians. Now, all we do is play music. Peter V decided we wouldn’t go to war again after the state you found us all in.” Edward nods solemnly.

“I think that is very fair.” The Jon bounds closer.

“Hey, Edward, do you want to come see us play? We’ll be back on in ten minutes!” Edward gives them both a warm, wide smile and turns to his wife,

“What do you think, my love? Shall we go watch?” Abigail chuckles softly and gestures to The Jon.

“Lead the way, Mister The Jon.”

And with that, the automatons, the war veteran and his wife all head back towards the stage and The Jon couldn’t help but beam.

Vietnam would remain in his mind for the rest of his long, metal life, but there was no need to tear those memories out. He had his family and his friends. And that was all he needed to live.


End file.
